Forbidden Love
by chicgeekitten
Summary: It's the 1950s….Samcedes had a clandestine affair as teens. They fell in love, was found out, societal pressures & sheer cowardice forced him to break it off. 10 yrs later, he sees her on bus stop with a sandy haired kid that looks a lot like him
1. Chapter 1

1957:

"_**Pregnant? PREGNANT!"**_

_**Mercedes closed her eyes, trying her best to disappear to one of the many locations she's dreamt of visiting before. Hawaii, London, Australia, anywhere but here. She braced herself. "My daughter is pregnant? With a white boy's baby? Do you have a death wish?**_

"_**Mama. I'm sorry. I love Sam. He loves me." Mercedes had no idea where this courage was coming from.**_

"_**HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU MERCEDES! HE GOT WHAT HE WANTED!"**_

_**Mercedes' mother was screaming as her little brother watched the whole thing.**_

"_**Mama, please. We're gonna get married. We're going to finish school and I'm going to be famous and he's going to be a writer"**_

"_**Married? Married? Because being black isn't bad enough around these parts now you're going to expect your school to let you finish with a belly and then you're going to go ahead and marry a white boy? Have you fallen and hit your head?" Mercedes' mother grabbed her head and sat on the couch. "You're moving in with your cousins in New York.**_

"_**MAMA! I can't! What about Sam?"**_

"_**Sam is no longer in your life. You hear me young lady? Forget that boy ever existed!"**_

_**Mercedes' eyes started to form tears and she was full of rage.**_

"_**HE'S NOT GONNA LEAVE ME LIKE DADDY LEFT YOU!"**_

_**Mercedes covered her mouth. She wanted to take it back but it was too late. Before she could even open her mouth to apologize her mother had gotten up and smacked her across the face.**_

"_**Go pack! Now!" were the last words her mother spoke to her that night**_

1972, 15 years later.

Sam Evans was 32 years old, trying to make it as a writer in NYC. He had published his first book a few months ago and he was still waiting for it to launch. A story about two teenagers who fall in love and are separated by circumstances beyond his control. He thought it would be perfect but no one was buying. He was living off his salary as a bus boy in Manhattan. It was exhausting work but he had the chance of meeting many famous people. He thought, one day he'd bump into the right person and slip them one of his many scripts. His most cherished possession? "Mercy me" It was the script his book was based on and it was his heart and soul. He sat on the bus for his long ride into the city. He looked out the window and then leaned back, closing his eyes.

"_**You're in love? IN LOVE? With some Negro girl?" Sam's father was invading Sam's space, chest to chest, eye to eye.**_

"_**Her name is Mercedes and I'm going to find her again and marry her" Sam said gritting his teeth and looking at his father right in the eyes.**_

"_**I don't give a shit what her name is boy! You're not dating no negro girl! You hear me?"**_

"_**John, stop that" Sam's mother put her hand on Sam's shoulder. "You should respect who your son loves. I didn't raise a racist"**_

_**Sam looked at his mom with pleading his eyes. This wasn't her fight. She didn't have to do this. The truth is, his mom fell in love with Mercedes the moment she walked in through her door. When his father had long shifts at the family bakery, Mercy came over and the three of them would listen to records, dance and laugh. It had been a long time since he had seen his mother so happy.**_

"_**Georgina, stay out of this! This is between me and the boy!"**_

"_**He's my son too!"**_

_**Sam's father grabbed his mother by the arm and flung her on to the couch.**_

"_**It's MY house!"**_

_**Sam was stronger than his father. He knew he could take him and after years of watching him abuse his mother, he couldn't take it anymore.**_

"_**you fucking bastard!" Sam pushed his father into the glass table in the living room. The table broke into pieces and his father fell to the floor, shocked.**_

"_**I turn 18 in a few months. I'm leaving this God forsaken house and I'm taking mama with me!" Sam yelled.**_

"_**You ungrateful little jerk" His father mumbled trying to get off the floor.**_

_**Sam ran up the stairs to his room and packed as much as he could. He grabbed the keys to his truck and ran down the stairs. His father was wiping the blood off of his face and his mother was standing at the door.**_

"_**Mama? Are you coming?"**_

_**Sam and his mother left that night. They lived off of everyone else's charity and good friends. Sam never stopped looking for Mercedes but after a few years, it felt like the earth had swallowed her whole.**_

Sam opened his eyes and rubbed them. He had fallen asleep on the bus and realized he was only a few stops away from his job. He sat up and kept looking out the window. The bus stopped and he noticed a pretty woman about his age arguing with a younger boy. Sam thought she looked like someone he knew but wasn't sure who. Suddenly the younger boy flipped the woman off and Sam was enraged. He stood up and got off the bus. The younger boy was walking away from the beautiful woman and Sam started following him.

"Hey! Kid! Didn't anyone teach you any manners? You don't treat a lady that way! Hey! I'm talking to you!

The boy turned around and his green eyes fell on Sam's. He was tall like him, and he was face to face with him.

"you're not my father" The boy yelled.

"Well, thank God for that!" Sam yelled back.

"Excuse me, what the hell do you think you're doing?" The pretty woman came up to the boy and stood behind him.

"Teaching this kid some manners…oh my God" Sam's heart stopped. "Mercy?"

Mercedes' jaw dropped and shivers ran down her spine. "Sam? Sam Evans?"

Sam couldn't believe it. He chuckled and took Mercedes into his arms.

"Mercedes Jones! You look….stunning!"

Mercedes smiled and pulled back "so do you!"

"You know this creep?" The boy asked.

"Okay, who the hell is this?" Sam asked getting visibly aggravated.

Mercedes gulped and took the boy's hand.

"This is Lucas. My son" Mercedes said softly.

Sam's face turned all shades of red.

"Your son?" Sam asked in complete shock.

He ran his fingers through his blonde locks and noticed the frustrated, dark skinned, green eyed boy doing the same through his dark locks.

Suddenly real life hit Sam Evans in the face and he looked straight at Mercedes.

"_**your **_son?"


	2. Chapter 2

The young man arched his eyebrows and scoffed. He surveyed Sam's face and then looked at his mother. They were both sporting the same expression; complete and utter shock.

"Ma? Hello?" Lucas waved his hands in front of Mercedes' face and she grabbed them.

"Now listen to me, I told you how I don't like it when your do that." Mercedes whispered to her son.

Lucas shrugged and chuckled. "So, old man? How do you know my mother?"

Sam snapped out of his gaze and felt an incredible urge to reprimand the rude teenager. "My name is Sam. Sam Evans. Has anyone ever taught you any manners? No son of Mercedes would behave this way."

Lucas laughed and stood up straight. "Well, I guess I got that from my father. That bastard"

"Lucas! Stop that right now!" Mercedes grabbed Lucas' arm. "You're being incredibly rude!"

"Ma! Listen! I don't have to listen to you or anyone. Especially not this guy, whoever he is. I'm a grown ass man"

Sam grew more and more enraged. "Well, there are several things wrong with what you just said, kid. You _do_ have to listen to your mother. "Who bought you those shoes? Is that a guitar pic around your neck? I'm guessing you play guitar? You bought you your guitar?"

Lucas was silent. He looked at his mother who was trying to hide a smile and then bowed his head.

"Answer the question, kid" Sam asked again.

"My mama" Lucas answered, his cheeks growing red.

"Right. So if you're such a grown ass man, shouldn't you be buying yourself those things? Or better yet, keeping your mother on a throne like a Queen?" Sam looked over to Mercedes and smiled.

She looked away. 15 years had passed but not one day went by when she didn't think about the love of her life.

"Yes sir" Lucas replied. He looked at his mother and frowned. "I'm sorry mama. You know I'm having a bad day."

Sam was proud of himself. He saw the change in Lucas' demeanor and he grinned.

"It's okay baby. This is Sam Evans. He's a very good friend of mine. Sam? This is Lucas. My son. He's 15"

And with that last bit of information, Sam's questions were answered. This beautiful young creature was a part of him. He had helped create Lucas. Sam's emotions took the best of him and his eyes began to swell with tears. As if seeing Mercedes for the first time in 15 years wasn't enough, he was meeting his son for the first time as well. He gulped and extended his hand.

"You look very much like your mother, son" Sam struggled to let that word out but it felt so right.

Lucas smiled. "Good because I would hate to look like the son of a bitch that left me behind. Although mom says I have his eyes. Whatever."

Sam's jaw dropped and Mercedes wanted to hide her face. "Manners, Lucas" was all she managed to say. Her stomach was in knots. Her face was on fire. Sam still looked amazing after 15 years but she could tell he had gone through a lot. His face carried so many woes. He wasn't the 17 year old, cheerful boy she had once fallen in love with.

"Sam, I was just dropping Lucas off at school. I have an appointment with his dean in about 10 minutes. I would love to chat but it's very important."

"Are you in some sort of trouble?" Sam asked the boy, genuinely worried. He didn't mean to imply that Lucas was the one causing trouble but that someone would be causing trouble for him and that tore his heart into pieces.

Lucas didn't question the man standing before him. He shouldn't really be answering some strange person's questions about him and his personal life but he felt suddenly very comfortable with Mr. Evans.

"Well, not exactly. My music teacher is failing me because I can't read notes. I'm dyslexic and he's using it against me. It's not fair! I'm really good at guitar! He just doesn't understand that sometimes I'll have the notes in front of me and they'll look like…"

"A big jumble?" Sam finished Lucas' sentence. Sam was excited. Excited but nervous. This was all too soon but it was more than perfect. His son was just like him and he just wanted to hug him and punch his teacher.

Mercedes was dying inside. She wanted to have this talk with Sam but it was too much, too sudden.

"Yeah! Exactly! I mean, I can shred that guitar like no other sophomore at Sinatra high school! I'm meant to be a star! Like mama!" Lucas looked at his mother and she smiled. She messed her son's hair.

"And you will be a star someday baby. No one is going to tell you otherwise!"

Sam clenched his jaw and stared at his family. That's what they were, they were HIS family. He couldn't let them go after searching for them for so long.

"I'll go with you guys!"

Lucas looked at his mom and then at Sam. "Mom! This is perfect! Maybe they'll take you seriously if they see Mr. Evans!" He looked at Sam. "They always treat mom like she's some second class citizen at my school. Just because she's a single mom! Imagine? She's the most successful singer at Moody Blue's! She's always selling the house out! You would think they'd give her the respect she deserves! But noooo! Maybe if you came, we can tell them you're my uncle or something and maybe they'd listen!"

Lucas was beaming and full of hope. Sam couldn't help but smile.

Mercedes chuckled and grabbed her son's hand.

"Honey, first of all they treat us like second class citizens because we're black. I know that's hard to imagine but it's true. That's what these white folks do." Sam bowed his head and Lucas shot his mom a disapproving look. "Also, do you really think your straight laced, square of a teacher even knows what Moody Blues is? I doubt that! And they wouldn't believe Sam's your uncle because you seem to miss one very important factor, he's white honey."

Sam felt offended. Mercedes' words hit him hard and just when Lucas was about to open his mouth to defy his mother, Sam jumped in. "Then, I'll pretend to be his father."

Lucas eyes brightened again and he smiled widely. "You would do that? For me?"

"Of course! I love Mercedes. Besides, I'd like to catch up, over coffee. To be honest, Lucas, your teacher sounds like an asshole. I would love to meet him and put him in his place. I know what it's like to feel the way you do. I have dyslexia as well. I taught myself how to play guitar…"

"You play guitar!" Lucas was practically shrieking.

Sam chuckled and put his arm around the teenage. "You bet! I'm sure I can teach you a few things!"

"Do you know any Hendrix. Rest in Peace?" Lucas did the sign of the cross and Sam did the same.

"Of course. What a legend!" Sam and Lucas laughed.

Mercedes could not believe what she was seeing. Everything was going fine in her life and then of course, Sam Evans had to creep back in like nothing happened.

Mercedes looked at her watch. The school was a few blocks away and she was already late.

"Sam? Can I have a word with you? In Private? NOW!" Mercedes sounded agitated and Sam walked over to her.

"Mercy! This is great! Can you believe this? Fate has bought us back together again! He's beautiful!" Sam was looking at his son who was air guitaring in the middle of the sidewalk. "He's my son! I know he is!"

Mercedes wanted to be warm. She wanted to embrace Sam. She wanted to tell him everything but years of suffering had turned her cold.

"Sam. You can't come with us to the school. You can't just march in there and pretend to be his father! Do you know the amount of psychological damage that could do to a child's soul?" Mercedes whispered.

Sam was in shock. "Would you like to be the pot or the kettle, Mercy?"

"Don't call me that!"

"Answer the question!"

"What is that supposed to even mean?"

"You want to talk about psychological damage to OUR son? How about denying his father for 15 years! And God knows what he thinks of me! He called me a bastard! How could you do that? I searched for you for so many years Mercedes! I didn't want to stop but then my mother fell ill and…"

Mercedes' face softened. "Georgina? Is she alright?"

"She has breast cancer, Mercy. She's dying. And she will never meet her grandson if you keep this lie going. Do you want that?"

Mercedes didn't have tears to cry anymore but her heart felt stiff. "Of course not. But Sam…this is not the way to go about doing things."

"Then, tell me the way, Mercy. I haven't seen you in 15 years! Then God bought me to this bus stop! I never take that bus! Never! Something told me to get on that bus this morning. And now…Now I'm standing in front of you and my son! My son, Mercy!" Sam's emotions were taking over. His face began to crumble and it was enough to make Mercedes feel guilty.

"Sam, I don't know how to do this. There is so much I need to tell you."

"So tell me. But first, let's fix our son's problems. I promise you I'll never leave again. We can talk all you want. I need to know what happened. I need to know why you left me. Please. I can't lose you again."

Mercedes closed her eyes. She looked over at Lucas who was pointing to his watch.

"Okay. But, after the meeting with his dean and his teacher, we need to talk. For Lucas."

Sam smiled and hugged the love of his life.

"And for us." Sam added.

Mercedes nodded her head and walked over to her son. She put her arm around him and whispered in his ear. "Mr. Evans will be joining us today."

Lucas jumped up and ran to Sam. He couldn't contain himself and he hugged him. "Thank you, Mr. Evans"

Sam hugged him tightly and smiled. "Please, call me Sam"

Lucas broke the hug. "Thank you, Sam"

Sam's heart was beating faster. It was only a matter of time before Lucas called him _**dad**_.


End file.
